Daily Dispatch

As managing partner of my firm, I’m not just an attorney, but also a business owner. That means I need to use technology in a way that helps me keep organized and complete every task as efficiently as possible. Like you, I’m sure, I’m simply too busy to waste time. If you’re a lawyer or a business owner — or if, like me, you’re doing double-duty in both roles — here are three can’t-miss iPhone apps to improve your professional life and your productivity.

1. Fishead Analytics. As a business owner, I need to know how our office is doing and where our clients are coming from. I use Fishead Analytics to observe the performance of our website and all of our online marketing numbers. It’s an excellent free app that lets you keep track of your Google Analytics metrics daily and view detailed information about who is visiting your website.

2. SpeakWrite. With the help of SpeakWrite, I can now send emails and text messages hands-free. The free dictation app transcribes my words with surprising voice recognition accuracy, which means I don’t have to stop more pressing work to deal with important messages.

3. JotNot Scanner Pro. One of my favorite professional apps is JotNot Scanner Pro. Whether you’re actively practicing law or wearing an administrative hat, this app is a huge time-saver for every part of your day. I remember when I had to scan every individual page of a document to a computer (and wait for the file to appear), then open and save it (and wait), and then convert it to a PDF myself (and wait again). The amount of time you could spend fighting with the scanner or computer on a bad day would completely offset the convenience of email attachments. Now, I just use the camera function of my phone to take pictures of even multipage documents, and the app will automatically convert those high-resolution pictures to a PDF file. I use it all the time for sending emails to staff, clients, insurance companies and other attorneys. What’s so great about JotNot is that it transforms this once time-consuming, multistep process into a single, efficient procedure.

As I’ve moved further into the technology age, my iPhone 5 has become an indispensable tool for running my office, whether that means locating and communicating legal information or checking on my firm’s progress toward meeting our goals. This device has made such a big difference in my efficiency that I absolutely could not run my business at the same level of productivity without it.

If you’re making a choice between getting an iPhone and purchasing even an excellent desktop computer, I always recommend the iPhone. It’s intuitive, and it’s often quicker than a traditional computer. Innovative apps make the device functional in such a wide range of tasks that I now consider it one of my best business technologies.

Richard P. Console, Jr. is the founding and managing partner of Console and Hollawell, a personal injury law firm in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.